Subtle mystery and hidden loveP.D. James is one of the best stylists around of that genre which is usually referred to as "crime", but which doesn't do justice…Sat Feb 17 2001 - 00:00
White Teeth, by Zadie Smith (Penguin, £6.99 in UK)This is Zadie Smith's first novel which garnered stacks of great reviews last year but didn't bag as many prizes as it seemed…Sat Feb 10 2001 - 00:00
Phoenix Irish Short Stories 2000, edited by David Marcus (Phoenix, £6.99 in UK)Such is David Marcus's reputation for his literary eye that this annual collection of stories always attracts attentionSat Feb 03 2001 - 00:00
Big Mouth, by Blanaid McKinney (Phoenix, £6.99 in UK)Blanaid McKinney's first book, a collection of 11 much-lauded stories which came out last year, is already in its second edition…Sat Feb 03 2001 - 00:00
Director's `hamming' days are overMark Lambert turns up in the Clarence wearing one of his real hats - a baseball capSat Jan 20 2001 - 00:00
From here to ClareLike accents in voices, the melodies in music can be traced to a particular locationMon Jan 15 2001 - 00:00
Surprise packageThere is no shortage of literary magazines in this country, but far too many of them offer an identical tired formula of poems…Sat Dec 16 2000 - 00:00
Let's hear it from the boys`It could be anyone," choirmaster John Dexter tells the choirboys of St Patrick's Cathedral, as they rehearse carols in one of…Fri Dec 15 2000 - 00:00
Little Dublin theatre turns up the heatThe New Theatre's managers, Ronan Wilmot and Anthony Fox, are very proud of their new heating systemSat Dec 09 2000 - 00:00
Echoes from Speranza's salonIn 1854, when Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde was a year old, his family moved house from nearby Westland Row to One, Merrion…Sat Nov 25 2000 - 00:00
Sisters, edited by Penelope Farmer, (Penguin, £9.99 in UK)`Sisters are like human wonderbras; uplifting and supportive" Kathy LetteSat Nov 11 2000 - 00:00
Mind gamesIn this issue, Granta is exploring the subject of therapy, which now permeates our lives - and is filtered through the arts - …Sat Nov 11 2000 - 00:00
Speaking with the Angel, edited by Nick Hornby (Penguin, £7.99 in UK)As Nick Hornby explains in the introduction, his small son, Danny, is autistic and attends a special school in London, for which…Sat Nov 11 2000 - 00:00
Western picture palaceAnyone who has ever browsed round Kenny's Bookshop in Galway will have spent at least part of their time there looking not at…Sat Nov 04 2000 - 00:00
Bad Sunday - International BarMark Wale's play about a Dublin family's Sunday outing in a borrowed car gets off to a cracking start, with a fast pace, sharp…Thu Oct 05 2000 - 01:00
By Name and Nature - Crypt, Dublin CastleWritten by Edward Coughlan, who is also one of the trio of multi-role actors, with Marcos Bale and Julie Sharkey, this play focuses…Thu Oct 05 2000 - 01:00
Window on the woodsIt's all about the view: Robert Frost bought a simple clapboard house on Ridge Road, a mile outside Franconia, New Hampshire, …Sat Sept 23 2000 - 01:00
An Irishwoman's DiaryOnly a few years back, when I was meandering back home overland from Nepal, I had never heard of e-mail. Nobody I knew hadTue Sept 12 2000 - 01:00
Speaking for those who left quietlyRed Kettle Theatre Company is boiling away indoors, ensconced in the dim interior of the Waterford theatre on a gorgeous, hot…Sat Sept 02 2000 - 01:00
On Bullfighting, by A. L. Kennedy (Yellow Jersey, £5.99 in UK)Readers will have their own opinions as to how appropriate the opening chapter of this book is - a disturbing and painfully personal…Sat Aug 05 2000 - 01:00
Sorry, but what's your name again?No matter how much latitude you give someone, there are some social bad habits that are hard to forgiveSat Jul 29 2000 - 01:00
Granta 70: Australia, The New New World(Granta, £9.99 in UK)With the Olympics providing international focus on Oz this year, Granta has chosen a good time to profile the continent that …Sat Jul 29 2000 - 01:00
Sudden Times by Dermot Healy, (Harvill, £6.99 in UK)The "sudden" of the title could as well be "strange" so darkly surreal is the world that Healy createsSat Jul 08 2000 - 01:00
Breakfast at Tiffany's, by Truman Capote (Penguin Classics, £6.99 in UK)This is a gorgeous edition of Capote's classic novella, with a still of Audrey Hepburn from the film of Breakfast at Tiffany'…Sat Jun 10 2000 - 01:00
Literati bugsThe white invitation simply announced that "You are invited to The Penguin Roadshow," along with details of time and placeSat Jun 03 2000 - 01:00
An Irishwoman's DiaryEver since Eve gave Adam that memorable apple, women have been tempting men with exciting things to eatFri Jun 02 2000 - 01:00
On the Spine of Italy: A Year in the Abruzzi by Harry Clifton (Pan £6.99 UK)Harry Clifton will be known to many as a poet, and his first book of prose bears the traces of the poet's eye for detailSat May 27 2000 - 01:00
Feeding the multitudesDo you get into a bit of a flap when you have a few folks coming round for dinner? Well, how would you feel about making lunch…Sat May 27 2000 - 01:00
Bruce Chatwin by Nicholas Shakespeare (Vintage £7.99 in UK)In his life, work, and sexuality, writer Bruce Chatwin continually reinvented himselfSat May 13 2000 - 01:00
The problems of growing up and the joys of growing old (Part 2)At the beginning of this novel, Japanese-raised Franklin Hata is lucky to escape death by fire in his own house, much coveted…Sat May 06 2000 - 01:00
The Modern Library: The 200 Best Novels in English since 1950, by Carmen Callil and Colm Toibin (Picador £5.99 in UK)The criteria for this book was fiction - not all novels, despite what the title declares - published in English since 1950, as…Sat Apr 29 2000 - 01:00
Memories of a Catholic Girlhood by Mary McCarthy (Vintage at £6.99 in UK)"The temptation to invent has been very strong, particularly where recollection is hazy and I remember the substance of an event…Sat Apr 22 2000 - 01:00
Back on the rights trackThe consumer programme Streetwise is coming back, a different programme in all but nameSat Apr 15 2000 - 01:00
Any old `Iron', `Bins', `Glass', `Tyres', `Sawmills'This is a book of stories which are connected by the theme of work and workmen's tools, hence titles such as `Bins', `Iron', `…Sat Apr 01 2000 - 01:00
Early Modern Women's Writing: An Anthology 1560-1700 edited by Paul Salzman (Oxford University Press, £7.99 in UK)The educated women of the late middle ages wrote prodigious numbers of letters, journals and memoirsSat Apr 01 2000 - 01:00
Kids in the kitchenA couple of Saturdays ago, two adults, one child and a baby went off to take an old car to the National Car Test Scrapyard in…Sat Mar 18 2000 - 00:00
Paddy of the `huge presence' commemorated on canal bankThere was more than one famous Paddy having their name celebrated yesterdaySat Mar 18 2000 - 00:00
The Map of Love by Ahdaf Soueif (Bloomsbury, £6.99 in UK)The 1999 Booker Prize folk declared this novel to be the best "read" on the shortlistSat Mar 11 2000 - 00:00
Wexford pike on a bikeIf there are such individuals as Pike Anoraks, Pike People is the programme for themSat Mar 11 2000 - 00:00
In the pictureWhen you think of an art gallery, what do you think of first? Sunday afternoons? Tons of gilt frames? Security guards checking…Sat Mar 11 2000 - 00:00
Dublin novelist shortlisted for literary awardColum McCann, a Dubliner, is one of seven novelists who have been shortlisted for the £100,000 International IMPAC Dublin Literary…Tue Mar 07 2000 - 00:00
Cowboy countryRenting. Just a vowel away from ranting. Landlords, eh? I've known a few. Naw, scrub that, I've known a lotSat Feb 26 2000 - 00:00
Our Fathers by Andrew O'Hagan (Faber & Faber, £6.99 in UK)Andrew O'Hagan's first novel rightly won a place on the 1999 Booker shortlistSat Feb 19 2000 - 00:00
Opening a treasure troveOn Monday, tribunals were forgotten with the opening in Dublin Castle of the Chester Beatty Library and Galleries in the refurbished…Sat Feb 12 2000 - 00:00
Full-time teen, part-time authorSo what did you do in your free time when you were 12? Play football? Torture your siblings? Obsess about boy/girl bands? Have…Sat Jan 29 2000 - 00:00
Darkness visibleAlthough the title of this book, Don't Read This Book If You're Stupid, might sound like it's a particularly in-your-face American…Sat Jan 29 2000 - 00:00
Success loomsIt's A mid-week morning but Avoca Handweavers, at Kilmacanogue in Co Wicklow, is fairly jammed with mammies and toddlers, and…Sat Jan 22 2000 - 00:00
